Are prices still climbing or have they eased up a bit??? 43 43

[1Cool]

On 9/10/2023 at 10:29 AM, Robot Man said:

What would be a “hard to find” Bronze book? 

I didn’t see many Bronze books trading hands unless they were severely discounted.  High grade Silver and golden age seemed to be the in demand books this year.

[dikran]

On 9/10/2023 at 10:29 AM, Robot Man said:

What would be a “hard to find” Bronze book? 

30¢ & 35¢ price variants?

[Robot Man]

On 9/10/2023 at 8:01 AM, dikran said:

30¢ & 35¢ price variants?

Aren’t they pretty common? Anything you can find at any given day or once a month on the bay, even in “high grade” is just a choice of how much you want to pay? I bought all my BA off the racks, read once and just stored so I don’t pay much attention to them anymore. 

[namisgr]

On 9/10/2023 at 11:43 AM, Robot Man said:

Aren’t they pretty common? Anything you can find at any given day or once a month on the bay, even in “high grade” is just a choice of how much you want to pay? I bought all my BA off the racks, read once and just stored so I don’t pay much attention to them anymore. 

Top census copies have always commanded premiums, with the fewer they are in number for a particular issue the higher the markup tends to be over the next, lower of the best graded.

[Robot Man]

On 9/10/2023 at 8:53 AM, namisgr said:

Top census copies have always commanded premiums, with the fewer they are in number for a particular issue the higher the markup tends to be over the next, lower of the best graded.

Yeah, I understand that. I have always tended to search out truly rare or scarce stuff. Just try to find titles like Prize, Catman, Speed, Four Favorites, many MLJ titles and WWII books. When any copy pops up I need, in any grade or price, I get that excitement fever. Buy it or wish you had. Different stroked for different folks I guess…

[the blob]

On 9/10/2023 at 5:33 AM, GermanFan said:

There is more money in the world than things to buy with. That explains much.

The guvment needs to figure out a way to print extra money for 12 years while somehow at the same time keeping inflation and interest rates low. 

[namisgr]

On 9/10/2023 at 12:35 PM, Robot Man said:

Yeah, I understand that. I have always tended to search out truly rare or scarce stuff. Just try to find titles like Prize, Catman, Speed, Four Favorites, many MLJ titles and WWII books. When any copy pops up I need, in any grade or price, I get that excitement fever. Buy it or wish you had. Different stroked for different folks I guess…

I was responding to your comment: "Anything you can find at any given day or once a month on the bay, even in “high grade” is just a choice of how much you want to pay".

CGC has been grading bronze for 24 years now, but there are still a handful of superhero Marvels that have no copies graded 9.8 in the census, or like this Western Pennsylvania copy I used to own, only a single 9.8 in the census.  In other words, very scarce bronze:

[VintageComics]

On 9/10/2023 at 5:33 AM, GermanFan said:

There is more money in the world than things to buy with. That explains much.

Yes.

And the available money, not REAL money, just money on paper continues to increase creating a rise in prices for all quality material.

We're entering an unprecedented era something akin to that Matt Damon movie Elysium where the ultra wealthy are SO wealthy that they've left reality behind. 

Remember when the richest man in the world was worth $40 Billion? $100 Billion? Now we're at a quarter Trillion and pretty soon people will be worth Trillions while the number of poor continue to expand at a far greater rate.

These big buyers are going to buy up the best stuff (including comics) and we will never have access to them again. 

They are trading MONEY ON PAPER for REAL, HARD ASSETS while the rest of us just watch it happen. 

Edited September 10, 2023 by VintageComics

[dikran]

On 9/10/2023 at 11:43 AM, Robot Man said:

Aren’t they pretty common? Anything you can find at any given day or once a month on the bay, even in “high grade” is just a choice of how much you want to pay? I bought all my BA off the racks, read once and just stored so I don’t pay much attention to them anymore. 

Not all of us were born then to be buying Hulk 181s and GSX 1s off the rack 

[Robot Man]

On 9/10/2023 at 12:57 PM, dikran said:

Not all of us were born then to be buying Hulk 181s and GSX 1s off the rack 

Sorry, just luck of the draw. I remember saying pretty much the same thing to my uncle who bought ECs off the rack. 

[VintageComics]

On 9/10/2023 at 12:50 PM, the blob said:

On 9/10/2023 at 5:33 AM, GermanFan said:

There is more money in the world than things to buy with. That explains much.

The guvment needs to figure a way to print extra money for 12 years while somehow at the same time keeping inflation and interest rates low. 

You mean change the fundamental laws of nature? 

That is impossible. You either WORK with the fundamental laws of nature and reap the benefits or you go against them and suffer the consequences. 

And everyone seems bent on ignoring natural laws, pretending there are no consequences and then ignoring them some more in search for a solution. 

[namisgr]

On 9/10/2023 at 4:27 PM, Robot Man said:

Sorry, just luck of the draw. I remember saying pretty much the same thing to my uncle who bought ECs off the rack. 

Here's a bronze age key that has a grand total of one copy in the CGC census in 9.8 grade.  The lone top census copy has been posted in the Bronze Age forum in the Picture Frame Marvels thread, as it was found and slabbed by a board member well known for his spectacular Silver and Bronze collections.

So while I no longer swim in the deep end of the bronze age collecting pool, there's a sense that scarce and desirable books are still doing exceptionally well in the marketplace.

Edited September 10, 2023 by namisgr

[Nick Furious]

On 9/10/2023 at 2:47 PM, VintageComics said:

These big buyers are going to buy up the best stuff (including comics) and we will never have access to them again.

The best thing the ultra-wealthy can do for society is to spend their money on things that have no intrinsic value.  No one's life is diminished when a billionaire buys the only 9.8 copy of a comic book and we have to settle for 9.4 or even 8.0.  It's when they put their money into something that consumes valuable resources, such as mining for bitcoin...then it's a problem for society.  

[VintageComics]

On 9/10/2023 at 6:24 PM, Nick Furious said:

On 9/10/2023 at 3:47 PM, VintageComics said:

These big buyers are going to buy up the best stuff (including comics) and we will never have access to them again.

The best thing the ultra-wealthy can do for society is to spend their money on things that have no intrinsic value.  No one's life is diminished when a billionaire buys the only 9.8 copy of a comic book and we have to settle for 9.4 or even 8.0.  It's when they put their money into something that consumes valuable resources, such as mining for bitcoin...then it's a problem for society.  

If the ultra wealthy keep driving up prices on the high end, the lower and mid end eventually follows. 

So let's say one comic book sale of a 6 figure book doesn't affect you directly right now, but eventually that book will rise in price in all grades. Now YOU and I have to pay more for normal books in our price ranges. That just causes collectors with fixed incomes to be squeezed tighter (assume we don't increase our earnings) if they want to continue collecting.

Now collectibles are very niche and certainly not a necessity, but now apply those principles against EVERYTHING - meaning every asset that can be bought and sold. They have more money to spend than there are things to buy, which is ONE reason why prices are skyrocketing on everything. 

The spending by the wealthy on real estate for investment has driven up rent and housing prices.

Crypto, collectibles, cars, guitars and literally EVERY physical asset over the last 3 years has driven the price of everything up. 

Even if prices DOUBLED in 2 years like we saw in the bubble but 'only' dropped 30-50% they are still ahead of interest, fixed wages erc.

So in case I wasn't clear, my core point was that the prices of assets (and collectibles are only a small part of available assets) have far outstripped fixed incomes by a large margin.

Sure comics have no intrinsic value but in our little corner of the universe, to them it's a great place to store money and our hobby has been directly and greatly affected.

As has every other asset price no matter the asset. 

Not sure if that directly relates to your point but it's how I see it. 

Edited September 10, 2023 by VintageComics

[Robot Man]

On 9/10/2023 at 3:44 PM, VintageComics said:

If the ultra wealthy keep driving up prices on the high end, the lower and mid end eventually follows. 

So let's say one comic book sale of a 6 figure book doesn't affect you directly right now, but eventually that book will rise in price in all grades. Now YOU and I have to pay more for normal books in our price ranges. That just causes collectors with fixed incomes to be squeezed tighter (assume we don't increase our earnings) if they want to continue collecting.

Now collectibles are very niche and certainly not a necessity, but now apply those principles against EVERYTHING - meaning every asset that can be bought and sold. They have more money to spend than there are things to buy, which is ONE reason why prices are skyrocketing on everything. 

The spending by the wealthy on real estate for investment has driven up rent and housing prices.

Crypto, collectibles, cars, guitars and literally EVERY physical asset over the last 3 years has driven the price of everything up. 

Even if prices DOUBLED in 2 years like we saw in the bubble but 'only' dropped 30-50% they are still ahead of interest, fixed wages erc.

So in case I wasn't clear, my core point was that the prices of assets (and collectibles are only a small part of available assets) have far outstripped fixed incomes by a large margin.

Sure comics have no intrinsic value but in our little corner of the universe, to them it's a great place to store money and our hobby has been directly and greatly affected.

As has every other asset price no matter the asset. 

Not sure if that directly relates to your point but it's how I see it. 

For maybe the first time we agree on something Roy! Well and accurately said.

I still think prices on a lot of vintage electric guitars (other than Fender and Gibson), can still be quite reasonable. I recently bought a nice but well broken in 1959 Gretch Country Gentleman for a few grand. MUCH less than lunch money for many comic collectors. I can pull it out and play it to my heart’s content for hours on end. 

[VintageComics]

On 9/10/2023 at 6:59 PM, Robot Man said:

I recently bought a nice but well broken in 1959 Gretch Country Gentleman for a few grand.

I own a Gretch Country Gentleman! What a gorgeous guitar. 

Have you watched prices of guitars and observed at all what they've been doing over the last 3 years?

Did they boom in 2021 like comics and have they started to drop down?

Incidentally, a friend of mine had a '59 Gibson Les Paul walk into his shop literally from a little old lady a few years ago. 

It's the find of a lifetime and the equivalent to an Action #1 walking into a comic store. 

Edited September 10, 2023 by VintageComics

[VintageComics]

On 9/10/2023 at 6:59 PM, Robot Man said:

For maybe the first time we agree on something Roy!

You and I will agree on far more than you realize. 

We just never get the chance to have a real conversation. It's always heated with people around us raising the temperature and preventing a real discussion. 

[PopKulture]

On 9/10/2023 at 6:35 PM, VintageComics said:

I own a Gretch Country Gentleman! What a gorgeous guitar. 

That is a gorgeous guitar! I can neither play nor do I own any, but that is a real work of art. The palette is sublime.  

[the blob]

On 9/10/2023 at 5:37 PM, VintageComics said:

You mean change the fundamental laws of nature? 

That is impossible. You either WORK with the fundamental laws of nature and reap the benefits or you go against them and suffer the consequences. 

And everyone seems bent on ignoring natural laws, pretending there are no consequences and then ignoring them some more in search for a solution. 

It somehow happened for about 12 years of priming the pump. I'm fine if we can do it again for 12 years and then have another rough stretch. By then I expect to be retired. Selfish I am just like the generation older than me (won't name names...). Excuse me while I cool my drink with some ice from an iceberg.

Edited September 10, 2023 by the blob

[VintageComics]

On 9/10/2023 at 7:42 PM, PopKulture said:

That is a gorgeous guitar! I can neither play nor do I own any, but that is a real work of art. The palette is sublime.  

I know. I walked in many years ago, saw it and bought it on the spot. 

Then, after I agreed to buy it I had to figure out how to pay for it. 

I was smitten with how gorgeous it was. 

Edited September 10, 2023 by VintageComics